Monday, November 24, 2003

'War on Terrorism' Profiteers

Next year’s presidential election will be the first since the beginning of the “war on terrorism,"* David Rothkopf points out in an essay in Sunday’s Washington Post’s Outlook section. In the piece, Rothkopf speculates on what type of response the U.S. government would embrace if terrorism were to strike during the election season.

“So, in the event of a major attack on American interests between now and the election, how should our political leaders react?” Rothkopf asks. “The candidates need to exhibit measured, responsible strength and, ideally, should be able to show that the policies they have articulated anticipate the new circumstances.”

What better way to anticipate the new circumstances than to subscribe to Rothkopf’s “Homeland Security Monitor.” Rothkopf is the founder of a Washington, D.C.-based consulting company, Intellibridge, that provides information to companies and government agencies on how to protect the “homeland.” Among Homeland Security Monitor’s regular features is an examination of “‘Best Practices’ from your counterparts.” It uncovers:

  • What your counterparts in foreign countries - who have been fighting terror for years now - are doing to protect their constituents against terrorism
  • Emerging homeland defense strategies and best practices from U.S. states and municipalities
  • Best emerging corporate protection strategies

Rothkopf is a former Clinton administration official who believed the U.S. government was justified in going to bat for Enron prior to its notorious bankruptcy. In a Jan. 20, 2002 article, the Washington Post highlighted how Enron garnered U.S. government support for its Dabhol generating station project in India. “There is an appropriate role for the U.S. government to step in on behalf of U.S. companies when foreign governments are treating them unfairly,” Rothkopf told the Post.

In 2001, Enron hired Rothkopf’s Intellibridge to improve the public image of the giant energy trader in the wake of the California energy crisis. “From early last summer until Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001, Intellibridge Corp. essentially served as an independent ‘propaganda’ arm for Enron, developing a news Web site and organizing conferences, which brought regulatory, political, media and business leaders together to discuss the merits of Enron’s vision for restructuring the electric power industry across the United States,” CounterPunch reported.

Rothkopf, deputy undersecretary of commerce for international trade during Clinton’s first term, founded Intellibridge after serving for two years as managing director of Kissinger Associates. The consultancy has had the help of several former government officials and spooks, including former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake and former Central Intelligence Agency director John Deutch, who was accused in 2000 of mishandling sensitive data while serving at the CIA and previously as an under-secretary at the Defense Department.

*Like most Americans, Rothkopf has bought into this notion that the U.S. government is waging a “war on terrorism.” A real war against terrorism, however, would involve dismantling the U.S. military’s worldwide operations as well as demilitarizing domestic police forces and holding them accountable for unjustified acts of violence. That would go a long way toward curtailing terrorism around the world and here at home. The U.S. government also could do its part in “fighting terrorism” by not giving handouts to odious regimes around the world, including those operating in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Colombia, and so on.

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